Subjects
A subject is something you mark: Mathematics, French, or an area of learning in Early Years. The subjects list is the school's catalogue. Markbook templates draw their subjects from it, and every grid column, report section and colour you see for a subject starts here.
Where: Configuration → Assessment → Subjects
Who can change this
A manager, or a person whose role includes Subjects. The page is hidden if your school has switched off the marks half of MarkBook (see Introduction). In a school that uses only learning outcomes, subjects are added and edited on the outcome tree itself.
What a subject has
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Name | The full name, for example Mathematics. |
| Short Label | Up to 5 characters, for example MATH. It appears in column headings and exports where there is no room for a name. It must be different from every other subject's label. |
| Color | Shown on the grid, the Summary and every report section for this subject. |
| Category | An optional grouping such as Languages or Sciences. It appears under the name and is used for ordering. |
| Form tutor subject | See below. |
The list
The list shows each subject with its colour, Assigned teachers, Assigned form groups and Templates. The last three come from the templates that use the subject, so a subject on no template reads "Not used in any template".
Filter by teacher, template, academic year, form group or category, or search by name. A banner at the top, Link to the Activity Calendar, opens a screen where you match subjects to the school's planned disciplines so lesson attendance reaches MarkBook. See Activity Calendar Connection.
Adding a subject
- Select Add subject.
- Enter the Name and Short Label.
- Choose a Color and, if you use them, a Category.
- Select Save.
The subject is now ready to add to a template. See Markbook Templates.
Example
| Name | Short label | Category |
|---|---|---|
| English | ENG | Core |
| Mathematics | MATH | Core |
| Science | SCI | Core |
| French | FR | Languages |
| Personal, Social and Emotional Development | PSED | Prime areas |
PSED is five characters, the limit. The long name is fine, because the short label is what the grid uses.
Form tutor subjects
A form tutor subject is written by the main teacher of each class, as set in Kinderpedia (the ★ next to the teacher). Use it for a pastoral comment or a class-level grade that belongs to the form tutor, not to a subject specialist.
When you tick Form tutor subject:
- Teachers are not allocated by hand. The template shows the form tutors of each class instead.
- The report names the form tutors as the subject's teachers.
- Only main teachers of the class can write in it. Leaders and managers can too.
- A class with no main teacher in Kinderpedia shows a warning on the template: only leaders can write there.
Changing and removing a subject
- Rename or recolour. The change shows everywhere at once: grids, reports and the outcome tree.
- Delete. A subject that is on a template, or has markbooks with marks, cannot be deleted: "Remove it from its templates first." Taking a subject off a template does not erase its marks. See Markbook Templates.
- Order. The order of subjects in a grid, a report and the outcome tree comes from the template, not from this list. Drag the subjects inside the template to reorder them.
Edge cases
- Two subjects with the same short label. The second is refused. Pick another label.
- A short label that is too long. MarkBook says "Keep the short label to 5 characters or fewer."
- A subject taught only to some classes. Set Display in on the template subject. See Markbook Templates.
- A subject inactive or deleted but still holding marks. The template page lists it under "Subjects taken off this template", where you can clear the marks or put it back.